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Apr 19, 2011

Rebecca rated it:

Elements & style: the characters are Owen Birnbaurm[main characters],Jeremy Birnbaurm, Mason Ragg, Nima,& mr. Wolly. The climax is when Own finds out about how his sister Jeremy was faking the break though that Owen was finding who killed his parents. The antagonist in the start was Mason Ragg a guy with the swicte blade in his sock, so Owen hough he was taking his oreos.My mood when I was reading this book was dark & sad.

Characteriztion: Owen is a fa More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 18, 2010

Kathy rated it:

First, just take a look at that cover. What comes to mind? Looking at the cover, you think you know what this book is about, but you don't.

"A three-story red-brick nightmare of educational progress." (p.2)

That's how Owen Birnbaum introduces us to school, his school at least. At Owen's school students can determine their own "educational progress" by studying whatever floats their boat at the moment.

Being the smartest kid in the school, and More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Jan 21, 2012

Donna rated it:

I'm surprised and delighted that SLOB hasn't yet been reviewed, especially since I haven't been able to make meetings.

The protagonist, Owen Birnbaum, wasn't always an overweight genius. The overweight has happened in the past 2 years since...(Don't read the MARC description--it spoils some of the suspense.) The genius leads him to perfect an invention whereby light waves from the past might bounce back to the present, letting us see things we'd missed, and Owen missed something reall More...

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Nov 17, 2011

Barb rated it:

Owen is fat. Really fat. He’s 57% fatter than most 12-year-old boys. And he’s a middle schooler. Ugh. He wasn’t always that way. Food for Owen Birnbaum fills the ache in his stomach that comes when he thinks of his past. Hints are slowly revealed as to what the tragedy is that happened to Owen and his sister, Caitlin or Jeremy. Caitlin is dealing with the past by joining the club GWAB, Girls Who are Boys, where she cuts her hair, wears boys clothes and changes her girl name to the boy name, Jere More...

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Oct 29, 2011

NebraskaIcebergs rated it:

When I read the first lines of SLOB, I wondered what I was in for: “My name is Owen Birnbaum, and I’m probably fatter than you are.” Was this going to be another “pity the fat kid” story? Or was it going to be another “here’s how to lose weight” story? I should have known better than to wonder. This is Ellen Potter. SLOB starts out with a simple problem: The cookies which Owen eats for lunch everyday have disappeared. I like Owen’s reason for this daily snack: “No matter how lousy my morning was More...

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Jun 25, 2011

Sps rated it:

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May 26, 2011

Haley rated it:

Slob was a great Contemperary fiction book. They really tied in the title with everything relating in the book. I have never read any book similar to this one, which is good because I dislike when a book is very common and has had the same story told in multiple books. The way all of the characters interact is very unique. This book sadly is much like a real life situation. As sad as it is, people are prejudice against others just because of things like they are larger than everyone else. This b More...

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Apr 14, 2011

Sam rated it:

Grade 6-8–Owen is the fattest–and smartest–seventh grader in his New York City school. When he's not getting picked on by the school bully or trying to survive the world's worst P.E. teacher, he invents things. Currently Owen has two projects–a TV that will show events in the past and a trap to catch the thief who keeps stealing the Oreos from his lunchbox. Owen calls his invention Nemesis and insists that it needs to reach exactly two years back. As the story evolves, readers learn that there a More...

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Oct 19, 2010

Morgan rated it:

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Oct 08, 2010

Lindsey rated it:

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1 comment like

Feb 28, 2010

Millicent rated it:

A lot of things can be said about Owen Birmbaum. He is twelve years old and the fattest kid in school. It’s not mean – it’s statistics. He hasn’t always been this way – only for the last two years. Another thing you can say about Owen is he is an easy target for bullies – even his gym teacher has targeted him as a source of personal entertainment and new feats of humiliation are orchestrated with each and every class.

Owen is not the only one having trouble. He is very close with his More...

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Oct 04, 2009

Mary rated it:

Owen Birnbaum is one point below genius, and 57% above average weight for a 12-year-old boy. Add to that his sister, Caitlin, who now insists on dressing like a boy and being called Jeremy. Needless to say, school - even the progressive private Martha Doxie School - is not his most comfortable experience. When his three Oreo cookies start disappearing from his lunches and a scary new kid, Mason Ragg, appears on the same day, it looks like Owen's life is becoming even more difficult. Owen focuses More...

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Aug 10, 2009

Jennifer rated it:

Reviewed by Natalie Tsang for TeensReadToo.com

Ellen Potter's SLOB is as delicious as its main character's beloved Oreo cookies (more on the cookies later). Things are not going well for twelve-year-old Owen Birnbaum. Even if you're one point from having a genius IQ, there are still some problems that are almost impossible to solve.

Owen's 57% fatter than the national average, which is bad enough, but after he embarrasses his gym teacher, Mr. Woolsey is out for revenge. Plu More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 26, 2009

N.A. rated it:

A lot of things can be said about Owen Birmbaum. He is twelve years old and the fattest kid in school. It’s not mean – it’s statistics. He hasn’t always been this way – only for the last two years. Another thing you can say about Owen is he is an easy target for bullies – even his gym teacher has targeted him as a source of personal entertainment and new feats of humiliation are orchestrated with each and every class.

Owen is not the only one having trouble. He is very close with his More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 01, 2009

Tasha rated it:

Owen is the butt of everyone’s jokes. Other kids make farting noises when he passes and he’s not sure if a suggestion to get a fat exemption from gym class was meant nicely or cruelly. Now someone is stealing Owen’s one pleasure in life: the three Oreo cookies he is allowed each day. Owen is also working on Nemesis, a television that will show the past. And he has one specific day in mind that he has to see. But things are getting out of hand. Owen is being bullied by his gym teacher, his More...

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Jul 28, 2010

Melissa rated it:

Owen Birnbaum is the smartest and fattest kid in middle school. Each day he must face his mean gym teacher, farting noises made as he passes by and now someone stealing his only saving grace for the day, his three oreo cookies. Owen begins to tire of the antics and recalls when he was thin and how things were different back then. This reinforces his idea to finish Nemesis and create a trap for the cookie thief. As he goes through this process he begins to face his pain. Through the help of hi More...

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Jul 19, 2011

Anastasia rated it:

Surprisingly well written realistic fiction about a boy (Owen) and his Oreos, his friends, his family, and his inventions. At the beginning his main concern is that someone is taking his Oreos from his lunch sack, and he tries to avoid and ignore this and other bully-the-fat-kid tactics. He is also constructing an invention named Nemesis which he shares only with his sister, Jeremy, and his Tibetan friend (Timo?).

But there is so much more to Owen and Jeremy and the other kids at school More...

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Mar 15, 2010

Destinee rated it:

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Jan 15, 2012

Courtney rated it:

Slob
By:Ellen Potter
Owen is smarter and statistically 56% fatter than the average 12 year old. Owen (12), Jeremy (11), and Mason Ragg (12) are the stars of Slob, By: Ellen Porter. Owen and Jeremy (Caitlyn) Birnbaum are brother and sister. Mason is Owen's new enemy.

Owen is the punch line of everyone's jokes at school. They make fart noises when he walks by. He has no friends b More...

1 comment like

May 03, 2010

Xemilyx rated it:

This book didn't follow any script for a children's novel that I can think of, and it vividly portrayed the cruelty kids face at school. In an early scene, in gym class, our narrator, who is 57% fatter than your average 12-year-old, is strapped into a harness and dragged through a twisted gymnastics routine by the gym teacher while his classmates hoot and holler. That scene made me think: anything could happen in this novel. These kids are not safe.

However, it wasn't like a Rober More...

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Apr 08, 2010

Becky rated it:

Twelve-year-old Owen Birnbaum is almost a genius and “fifty-seven percent fatter” than average, giving him outcast status in his NYC middle school. The story begins with Owen trying to figure out who is stealing his Oreo cookies from his lunch bag everyday. The book gradually morphs into a much more complex and serious novel, however, when the reader discovers that Owen is also working to solve another mystery that resulted in a devasting personal tragedy.

The story is revealed in sta More...

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Nov 13, 2010

Kelly added it

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Jul 16, 2009

Talia rated it:

Owen is fat. But he knows it, and it’s just statistics. His classmates make fun of him, his gym teacher is sadistically cruel, and someone keeps taking his lunch’s oreos. But Owen just lets it happen, he just keeps going and spends his free time building an invention to see back in time. But not reacting to things for so long has taken a toll on Owen, and at some point, something’s going to change.

I enjoyed reading this. While this story may seem predictable, it’s not. There’s no bi More...

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Mar 20, 2011

711leah rated it:

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5 comments like

Jan 13, 2011

AnnieL. rated it:

Slob by Ellen Potter is about a twelve year old named Owen Birnbaum, who is 57 percent fatter than the average 7th grader. He routinely struggles trough gym class and hearing jokes about him. Even though he is the fattest kid in his grade, he is also the smartest. Owen is working on building a TV time machine that shows images from the past. By doing this, he will be able to find the secret that has been haunting him for many years.
In addition, because Owen is trying to diet, he is only all More...

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May 27, 2011

Lexi added it

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0 comments like

Apr 03, 2010

Christina rated it:

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1 comment like

Jun 05, 2011

Karen rated it:

Owen Birnbaum is one point shy of qualifying as a genius according to his IQ score. He loves to design and invent all kinds of cool things to solve problems, and he's working on building Nemesis, a TV that will pick up signals from the past. He's hoping to see something that changed his life forever... He's also the fattest kid in school, which causes him all sorts of problems, especially with the sadistic gym teacher. Owen may be smarter than most everyone at his school, but that doesn't h More...

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Jan 21, 2011

Sarah rated it:

There are some YA novels that are so nuaced and have such depth that you wonder how it ened up a YA novel at all; it must have been some random flip of a coin behind closed doors in the publishing industry. This book was not one of those books. It was very firmly in the category of books written for young people. At first I was put off with the some of the quirks of the narration. (Examples: "I'm probably fatter than you. I'm also probably smarter than you. . . . More about [fill-in-the-bla More...

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Jan 06, 2010

Erin rated it:

12-year-old Owen is 57% fatter than the national average for his age, but he's also significantly smarter. He is a genius inventor who is determined to create a TV that can display the past--specifically an event from two years ago in the past. However, he is not so clever at figuring out certain things: why his feisty younger sister insists on being called by a boy's name, who has been stealing his oreos every day, and why a scar-faced and potentially dangerous new kid seems out to get him. T More...

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